Kathleen Hazel Pehringer

• Missing Since 04/17/1989
• Missing From Riverton, Wyoming
• Classification Endangered Missing
• Sex Female
• Race White
• Date of Birth 11/02/1947 (77)
• Age 41 years old
• Height and Weight 5'0 - 5'2, 110 - 130 pounds
• Distinguishing Characteristics Caucasian female. Light brown hair, brown eyes. Kathleen's nickname is Kathy. Her ears are pierced one time each. She wears eyeglasses and smokes cigarettes.

Details of Disappearance

Kathleen was last seen at her Riverton, Wyoming home on April 17, 1989. She disappeared while her fourteen-year-old, Kelly Pehringer, was at school. She took her purse and glasses with her, but her vehicle was left behind, parked out in front of the house.

When Kelly came home from school, her mother was gone and there was no note to explain her absence and say when she would be expected back, which was uncharacteristic of her behavior. She has never been heard from again. Her loved ones described her as a responsible and punctual woman who had been taking classes at Central Wyoming College and working part-time at the Hilltop Bar.

Authorities believe Kathleen left her residence willingly with someone she knew, and intended to be gone for only a short time. There was no sign of a struggle of her house after she vanished. The ashtray had been recently cleaned and had only two cigarette butts. One was of Kathleen's preferred brand and the other, Kelly believed were from Donald Kenneth Pack Jr., a man her mother knew. She recognized them because Pack would crush the filters down to nubs.

The same afternoon Kathleen disappeared, Pack came by the house and asked Kelly where she was, then asked to use the phone. He dialed a number, but then hung up without leaving a message and left.

After her disappearance, Kelly found her mother's diary and gave it to the police. According to the diary, Kathleen had been dating Pack. He was a friend of Kathleen's ex-boyfriend and met Kathleen when he offered to buy her computer.

Pack had been paroled from prison a few years earlier. He had served a twelve- to fourteen-year sentence for for aggravated rape and kidnapping, and was a suspect in more than 30 rapes reported in the Jackson, Wyoming area between 1974 and 1975. His preferred victim profile was a single or divorced woman in her mid-thirties, slightly overweight and of below average to average height, a description that matched Kathleen.

About a year after she went missing, Pack's parole was revoked after he was arrested on weapons charges and he spent another year in prison before being released again. In 2018, he was sentenced to eight to twelve years in prison after some old evidence was located and tested for DNA, tying him to two unsolved rapes. He served 55 months and is now free on parole again. A photo of him is posted with this case summary.

Psychologists who profiled Pack said he was very intelligent and very dangerous and would probably kill his next victim to keep her from reporting the attack. However, authorities were never able to tie him to Kathleen's disappearance. He admitted to committing the rapes he was convicted of in 2018 and apologized to the two victims, but said he had nothing to do with Kathleen's case.

Authorities believe Kathleen was the victim of a homicide. Her case remains unsolved.